Not when Belton has a steady-handed backup such as Jonathan Paysse to orchestrate the offense. Not when the Tigers have an offensive line blasting open holes for hard-running Anthony Huber.
And not when they have a defense so suffocating that it held College Station A&M Consolidated, which was averaging 384 yards and nearly 20 first downs per game, to 55 and one, respectively.
Belton completely dominated Consol 28-0 Friday night at Tiger Field, and coupled with Copperas Cove's 34-20 loss at Bryan the Tigers are alone atop the District 12-5A standings.
"It's unexplainable. I don't know how to put that into words actually," said Huber, who had career-highs of 28 carries and 123 yards and tied his best of three total touchdowns.
Said junior Paysse, who went 8-of-22 passing for 113 yards and two touchdowns: "It's a great win. Hopefully it gets us prepared for Cove (next Friday)."
Belton has its first seven-game winning streak, 6-0 start and 3-0 district start since 1999. The win ended a 10-game losing streak to Consol on the field (Belton won last season after Consol had to forfeit a 39-22 victory for using an ineligible player). After blanking Killeen Shoemaker 38-0 last week, Belton recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time since 1978.
Said linebacker Amaury Del Real, who recovered a third-quarter fumble that led to a touchdown: "It's big, but it's not the ultimate. We still have a lot more work to do. We're not to our full potential yet."
That's a scary thought. Almost as scary as the statistical one-sidedness.
Belton executed 73 plays for 329 yards of total offense and had 20 first downs. Consol ran 28 plays for its 55 yards, all rushing, and the lone first down came with 7:42 left in the third quarter. Consol's rushing duo of Chris Nutall and Clinton Banks had combined for 1,156 yards and 18 touchdowns this season, but neither was able to sniff any running room, combining for 62 yards on 20 carries.
"They're very strong and very quick," Consol coach Jim Slaughter said of Belton's defense. "They escape blockers. It was going to take some hard-running, well-designed plays to go at them, and we were not capable of doing that."
Said Belton coach Rodney Southern: "I think we had a good plan. The coaches had a couple of things that we thought would work, but I think our kids executed. I think we controlled the line of scrimmage and we did a good enough job on the edge that they couldn't get into rhythm."
Paysse, filling in for injured starter Ash, who suffered a high ankle sprain in last week's game, managed the offense. He connected with Huber on a 19-yard touchdown pass to cap the opening drive and later hit Jeff Lepak (three catches, 51 yards) on a 25-yard score to put Belton up 21-0 in the third. Excluding the final three plays when Paysse kneeled to run out the clock, the Tigers had just one play go for negative yards thanks to the offensive line's surge.
"I was feeling good," Paysse said. "I wasn't too nervous. I was real excited to be out there. The defense did amazing. It's unbelievable."
Said Southern: "I think they (offensive line) protected him well. We wanted to run the ball to help him and get him off on the right foot, which obviously it worked. But I think we controlled both lines of scrimmage and if you do that you'll always have a chance to win."
On Belton's first drive, the Tigers drove 82 yards in 14 plays spanning 5 minutes, 48 seconds. The Tigers rushed eight times, converted four third downs and Paysse capped the drive with a 19-yard TD pass to a wide-open Huber on third-and-10.
On the next possession, Belton ran 11 straight times for 69 yards and Huber scored on a 7-yard run with 8:14 left in the second for a 14-0 lead.
In the third, Del Real recovered Nutall's fumble, and Paysse connected with Lepak on a fourth-and-7 to stretch the lead to 21-0.
Belton's defense did the rest. Michael Padgett had a big third-quarter stop on third-and-3, Aaron Lozoya stuffed Nutall on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth and Brodrick Crain made several key tackles on the perimeter.
That sets the stage for Belton's showdown with preseason league favorite Cove at 7:30 next Friday night at Bulldawg Stadium.
Said Southern: "I think we're in the best position we can be in right now. We're healthy other than David. And we're going into a stretch now where we have to get one more (win) somewhere but as well as we're playing we've got a shot."
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
